The Young Man & The Sea

By David Pasternack and Ed Levine
Artisan Books; $35

Pasternack, chef at Esca in New York City, life-long fisherman on Long Island Sound and at other Atlantic Ocean ports of call, and a guy who routinely packs his personal catch in ice and takes it on the train with him into Manhattan, probably knows East Coast seafood more intimately than other any chef. He knows what to do with it, too, as evidenced by the 100-plus inventive recipes he's sharing in this book. Most of them can be plugged right into any progressive restaurant's menu as is. Pair this excellent book about cold-water species with Ralph Brennan's new one on Gulf of Mexico-sourced fish (see review at left) and you've got the seafood universe covered.